Poultry and beef: How contaminated is your meat?

You may want to think twice before ordering a medium-rare steak at your favorite restaurant and take extra care in their own kitchens when preparing and cooking meat and poultry dishes, says a new report from the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

The report examined 12 years of foodborne-illness outbreak data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- 1,714 outbreaks involving 33,372 illnesses from 1998 to 2010 -- and ranked meat and poultry products on a scale from highest risk to low risk.

Chicken and ground beef topped the list in the highest-risk category, followed by steak and turkey at high risk; deli meat, pork, roast beef, and barbecue (beef and pork) at medium risk; and chicken nuggets, ham, and sausage rounding out the bottom at low risk.

CSPI researchers determined each food's relative risk by calculating the hospitalization rate from the illnesses attributed to outbreaks in the food groups.

Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 were together responsible for one-third of all foodborne illnesses, while Clostridium perfringens, a lesser-known pathogen that grows on cooked foods left at improper temperatures for too long, was responsible for another third of the illnesses. Nearly 20 percent were from unknown pathogens, due to incomplete data collection by public health departments.

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Bacteria like these can cause illnesses ranging from short-term gastrointestinal distress to severe food-poisoning cases requiring hospitalization and sometimes even resulting in death; the number of deaths could not be confirmed by the data analyzed by the CSPI.

The CDC estimates that nearly 50 million people get sick from foodborne illnesses each year (from produce and other foods, as well as from meat and poultry), tens of thousands are hospitalized, and 3,000 people die. The estimates may be low, however, because not all outbreaks are reported or linked to a specific cause.

"Animals naturally carry bacteria that are not harmful to animals but are harmful to humans," said Sarah A. Klein, J.D., M.A., Senior Staff Attorney for the Food Safety Program at CSPI and the author of the study. "The way the animals are raised, slaughtered, and processed may contribute to whether or not the bacteria reach consumers."

One such way contamination can occur is when live animals carry bacteria from the farm into the slaughtering facility on their feathers or hides and in their intestines, and the bacteria can then be transferred to the carcass during slaughter. Another common source of contamination is combining small pieces of meat from multiple carcasses to make a ground product; if one piece is contaminated, the bacteria can spread throughout the resulting product.

Meat safety tips: You're handling hazardous material

Klein noted that consumers may be surprised to see steak listed as high risk, as it is normally made from the choicest cuts of meat. However, from a food safety perspective, steak may be similar in risk to ground beef if it has been tenderized using needles or blades that pierce the meat and push pathogens into the otherwise sterile interior. The resulting steak may look intact, but cooking it rare or medium rare may not be sufficient to kill the pathogens inside. Since mean products like steak do not carry any kind of label alerting retailers, restaurants, or consumers, Klein recommends cooking steak medium well to well.

In fact, Klein said, in general it's safest to assume all meat and poultry products are contaminated.

"Consumers need to be approaching meat and poultry products as if they are hazardous material," she said, "using extra caution in preparation, cooking, and eating to make sure they are protecting themselves and their families."

For children, older consumers, pregnant women and people who are immune-compromised, even greater precautions may need to be taken to assure these foods are safe.

Klein recommends using a plastic bag at the grocery store and in the refrigerator to separate raw meat from other foods, wearing plastic disposable gloves when handling raw meat and poultry products, and thoroughly washing your hands before and after handling meat. During preparation, use different cutting boards and utensils for cutting meat and poultry than you use for other foods.

Klein also emphasized that consumers should never rinse meat.

"All it does is create tiny droplets of bacteria floating around your kitchen," she said. "There are no benefits to rinsing meat."

When it comes to healthy cooking, she suggests using a meat thermometer to assure the meat is cooked thoroughly to the proper internal temperature for each product, which can be found on foodsafety.gov.

Finally, all meat and poultry dishes should be served promptly after cooking, as the longer it is sitting out, the longer bacteria can grow.

Klein noted that although highly processed foods like chicken nuggets are considered low risk in the CSPI report, consumers should remember that such foods have little nutritional value.

"If you suspect you have may have a foodborne illness, go to the doctor and get diagnosed and ensure that information is counted and reported to the health department," Klein said. "Most foodborne illnesses are preventable and the industry can be doing a better job to make sure consumers can eat without fear of illness."

Join Everyday Health and CSPI for a live Twitter chat on Wednesday, April 24 at 2 pm EST, to talk about the new report and get tips on proper handling, preparing and cooking of meat and poultry products. Bring your questions and follow the hashtag #HealthTalk to participate.

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